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Montgomery County is one step closer to opening a proposed temporary, emergency short-term housing program in Norristown.
At a special meeting Wednesday night, Norristown Zoning Hearing Board members voted 4-1 to approve the county’s application for a zoning variance for 1430 DeKalb St. to authorize a 50-bed transitional housing program in the space.
The shelter, which will be an expansion of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services campus, will provide year-round, 24/7 wraparound services to up to 50 pre-screened single adults. No walk-ins or drop-offs will be permitted. Your Way Home, the county’s housing crisis response system, will provide financial literacy services, job training, addiction services and mental health support, with the goal of helping people find long-term, permanent housing.
According to the county, more than 100 people are sleeping outside in Norristown on any given night.
The shelter would be the third initiative to emerge from a countywide effort to expand emergency shelter and services for people experiencing homelessness. In January, commissioners voted to establish a 120-bed emergency shelter option in Pottstown. A year-round, permanent transitional housing facility in Lansdale with 20 beds is slated to open up later this year.
“We were all there until about 12:30 last evening, testifying in front of Norristown Zoning Board meeting to advocate for this important initiative that will help our friends, our most vulnerable friends and neighbors who struggle with having a safe, reliable and consistent place to live, including those sleeping in cars, couch surfing or in unstable living conditions,” Commissioner Jamila Winder said at Thursday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
Winder noted that commissioners have been working to address the lack of a 24/7, year-round shelter in the county after the Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center in Norristown closed in 2021.
“I’m just really grateful that municipalities are stepping up to be a part of the solution,” Winder said. “We know that ending homelessness is complex, and it’s only through many partnerships that the county has made this kind of progress, and I’m so proud that now we can say that Norristown is one of our many municipal partners, including Pottstown and Lansdale, that showed the courage and showed the will to be a part of the solution and partner with the county on this very important mission.”
Winder said the county aims to open the facility at the beginning of 2026.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but this is a step in the right direction,” she said.
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